THE FASTEST CRAFT AFLOAT.

Motueka Star, Volume II, Issue 53, 14 February 1902, Page 4

THE FASTEST CRAFT AFLOAT.

An interesting account \p£ the new nci dhi caking craft,'the Arrow, that steams at 50 miles an hour, is given in Pearson’s Magazine. A strange craft she is, so crowded with heavy and' powerful machinery, that .it, would seem as though the'mighty . engines must rend asundet; by their throbbing the frail body iiito the . composition of- which aluminium enters so largely. If the sea ■vvebe suddenly’ transformed into wax, and you were to lift this, swift little vessel as you might a toy'bqat' the basin, wherein she reposed would be scarce large enough' to hold 50 tons of water —a bulk ndt much greater than could be lohded OrTa railway truck--and vet .■» ithin the ' limited confines of. this diminutive ship is housed a mechanical giant, whose strength measures 4000 horse-power, aimostyas, ‘ much as , was possessed By the transatlantic Jiners. of a few years ago,' and higher .powered machinery than was ever before placed in a 1 vessel of the size' of ' this one. Strangest of all, perhaps, is the fact that she is both a steam yacht, upon pleasure benf, and a torpedo -boat, bristling for fight, and may be changed from one to (he other in less than two hours. The Arrow was built for Charles R. Flint, a New York capitalist with extensive interests in all parts of the world. lor the twelve members of the crew there are folding berths, and for the officers a, double state room, extending the entire:' width of the boat. The owner’s apartment is sumptuously finished in satin wood, and provided with the finest- furniture. Connected with it is a private bath. The Arrow has her own electric light plant, and there is a complete system for cooling and ventilating the ship.”

A dozen Dunedin factory girls went to a seaside iesort at New Yqa.iv Thev roomed together in a bunch, and oub side then doi r they hung a large sign, “The Bachelors Haul.”

A ’Wellington resident...who found that Income Tax had been collected upon his <lunations to the Patriotic Bund leeently wrote'to the Commissioner i f Taxes in protest. -Mr M'Gowan replied that donations, being a disposition of income and not an expense incurred in its production, cannot by tlie provisions of the Assessment ! Act be allowed as deductions: The law was the same as in Great Britain, and neither he nor his subordinates had any option in the matter. As to the. fairness of the disallowance, he pointed out that persons in receipt of salaries are assessed at the full amount of salary, 'without deductions of any sort. - The objector replied that he could admit neither equity nor the legality of' the position taken up by the. Department., He pointed out that an eminent legal authority in Wellington had' decided that money disbursed in popularising a business and increasing its /trade could not be taken exception to by the Department. This, he . contended, exactly fitted the case. Even, supposing the tax was rigidly correct, was it Ull occasion to stand on the strict letter of the law ? Taxing these gifts was an incredible meanness. Mr M’Gowan replied that the complainant had better refer ! the case, to the Courts. The offer was declined. /The taxpayer had hoped the matter would” have /been treatedTn the, 'spirit that mqyed;.the donors whose gifts were, being taxed-—, but, as be put it, apparently a. •hnerifr-;.' Department rise "above, mere naoney-grubbing considerations.’’, Td THE CITIZENS \QF ■„MOTUEKA • We have just opened a parcel, of Spectacles.. A first class .pair for- ss. No fancy price charged 'four eyes tested free, of charge — BRO WN i£EJR.R. '

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